A writer friend of mine sent me this link to another female writer’s blog, where she has a post about the disrespect female writers get compared to men, from both genders.  Given that the bulk of Hogpro posts are about series authored by women (Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, and I hope that Divergent will eventually get equal time!), I thought it would be interesting to discuss.  Hey, she starts with Jane Austen…

So, what do you think?  Does the “Shut up, ladies” phenomenon exist?  If so, is the Hogpro site a refuge from it?  If anything, we have the opposite problem…  while some great YA male-authored series have been brought up here (Percy Jackson, Chaos Walking) they never have sparked quite the same level of discussion as the “chick lit.”

Because of circumstances beyond the control of its organizers, the JMU Harry Potter conference “Emerging from the Pensieve” has been postponed. Dr. Gumnoir says,

Depending on how things develop this fall, I have now developed tentative plans for the spring or early summer 2013. Our theme will remain the same despite the delay, and I hope that all of you will still be interested in presenting your work.
I will keep you posted. Until then, please encourage your friends, colleagues, and students to consider joining our conversations next year and submit their own proposals.

So, consider yourself encouraged. Information about the theme and how to submit an abstract is available here. Please email Dr. Gumnoir with paper proposals and we will look forward to a spring/summer event.

Virginia’s Bridgewater College is hosting a conference in celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the iconic ape man, Tarzan himself. If any Hogpro readers are interested, check it out!